Two key ingredients to keep us cooking

In the local neighbourhoods of Mozambique, it is not uncommon to see a large pot over an open fire, cooking up a storm of delicious ingredients.
One favourite dish is a type of curry that includes ground peanuts, kovi (deep green leaves that look like a bit like kale), along with freshly ground coconut. It's normally accompanied by rice or xima and when I was a newbie here, I found it to be an acquired taste. Now I think it's delicious; it's a great dish that is relatively cheap to make and very tasty.
It would be worth writing a blog sometime of interesting culinary delights here in Moz. I must remember to do that... For this blog however, the analogy of the sizzling pan is useful to describe our current state of affairs.

Two ingredients

(Photo courtesy of http://artemiscanada.com)

As we embark on a brand new year, it's been helpful to take stock and see where we've got to. We're happy to report that there are at least two key ingredients sizzling in the pot - that of enthusiasm, which is stewing nicely, along with a large helping of determination.
Realising a dream or a goal takes time, sometimes a very long time (I'll resist using another analogy of cooking here), and there are moments along the journey when enthusiasm can wane and determination can falter. This happened to us during last year, particularly at points where we struggled to see a way past certain obstacles. Our faith in God has been essential during such moments (a third core ingredient), which enables us to remember the deeper purpose behind our efforts.
Here's what I'm wanting to get at though - we have hit upon other moments that appear out of nowhere, which give us a great boost. These other moments help us recover our enthusiasm and a stronger, deeper determination than ever before to reach the goal. Allow me if you will, to explain more...

Listening to some important people, not just the experts

During the past 15 months, we've spent a lot of time talking to people to really understand the lay of the land, and how best to achieve what we've set out to do. It's been an essential part of preparing the ground, before we set up the foster homes. We've talked to directors in the government department of Social Welfare, we've talked to Social Workers themselves, we've chatted with NGO directors who look after children, and we've talked to a number of other experts.
However, we recently realised that there are some people that we've totally forgotten to talk to. This group of people, we now realise, are some of the most important people of all to listen to. I'm referring to those who live in the poor communities of Maputo, the ones who see the day-to-day struggles of survival, the ones who live at the coal-face, who are facing impossible battles and who are overcoming difficult odds. We needed to hear from such people and learn about their view regarding children.
So, that's what we decided to do - hold some gatherings with mums and dads from the local communities. And we called it a Focus Group.
In these groups, we discuss the issues of abandoned children in their neighbourhoods, what happens to them, who looks after them and who pays for their care, if indeed any care at all. We also touched on the merits and un-merits of NGOs caring for them.

This is where our inspiration comes from

Now, I realise that such topics are not everyone's cup of tea, and I agree that not everyone in the world needs to jump up and down about this stuff. However, the point I'd like to make here is that the main reason that we are so enthused is that these community people are just SO inspiring in the way they approach life.
Take Telma for example, a lady who lives a very simple life with her husband and children and struggles to make ends meet. Not so long ago, she became aware of a child in her neighbourhood who had never attended school. It became clear that this child was about 10 years old and yet would spend their days out in the street, without any focus or any positive input from a grown up. So Telma tried to locate the parents without any success, and eventually decided to use her very limited funds to get the child enrolled at school, as well as pay for books, some new shoes and other resources. This is an amazing act of kindness amongst a community of people who are constantly on the edge of their means. Telma's active desire to invest in this child gave us genuine inspiration for what we are pursuing.
To bring this blog to a close, I would simply like to shout about the people like Telma who live in the neighbourhoods of Maputo and who are doing their absolute best to raise their children and give them a future. As we continue to form our way forward for the foster homes here, we are taking advice and input from people like Telma, so that we can provide a service that only encourages more Mozambican mums and dads to give their best to their communities. Share

The Wakelys

Jonny & Becky have spent eight years living in Maputo, Mozambique, working with abandoned children. They have their own three bubbly children, Gracie, Honor and Josiah, who are as excited about a life in Africa as their parents. The Wakelys have recently returned to Mozambique, having founded a UK charity, Tutela Africa, to support their work. Follow their developments on this site as they attempt to post regular updates.

So wonderful to hear these stories. Good people are around us everywhere doing their bit in their corner of their world to see freedom, goodness, wholeness and love prevail. One act of kindness inspires another by those who see and hear it.

You described your vision, passion and determination… that is what will see you to success in this dream you two, and your crowd of supporters. Your heart is clear on its dream!

Businesses can have all the financial support, advertising and the greatest qualified minds on the task but they so often fail if they are not clear on their dream, passionate in their endeavors and determined in the face of adversity. These are far more important factors in success.

You have exactly the ingredients to see this to fruition!! God bless your plans. You have cheer leaders around the globe!

Amazing… Really enjoyed your blog Jonny. Wow indeed.. for people like Telma.
It’s so easy to be overwhelmed by ‘needs’, but to make a difference, even for one person, is what it’s all about… Who knows what those seeds will grow into. Keep up the good work. Liked the quote re enthusiasm… so true. Love and Prayers for you all. Rachel